The New Mutants By: Joey Disclaimer: Sorry, I don't own these characters, Marvel Comics and I believe KidsWB! (or at least they do for the Evo version) does, and I'm only using the characters for entertainment only, no harm meant.

will be used for Doug/Cypher's language translations and regular language translations as well.

Chapter 11 "The Real Folk Blues"

Previously: In an attempt to rescue Beast, Storm, Wolfsbane, and Moira McTaggert, the combined teams of the New Mutants and the X-Men found themselves transported into the mind of David Haller, the tortured young son of Professor X, who suffers from schizophrenia. Inside, they encountered a nightmare landscape of the world's landmarks, and the nightmare beings that live there, as well as the three personalities of young David: Jack Wayne, a rough and rowdy Jon Wayne-esque hero with telekinetic powers, Cyndi, a smart mouthed street urchin with pyrotic powers, and Jemail, an Arabic telepath. Eventually, with the aid of Jemail and (with some convincing) Jack Wayne, Jean Grey was able to repair David's mind, though Jemail lacked the expertise to keep the other personalities closed and locked away, and all though there are still three other beings inside of him, young David Haller, reunited with his Father, is on the road to recovery.

******

After the events with young David, the teams were finally able to relax. Both the X-Men and the New Mutants spent the next few days relaxing and taking in the sights before flying back to Bayville, from there, the New Mutants had planned to splinter off again, making up for lost time on their road trip by using Illyana's teleportation powers. However that plan was soon changed when a video tape was left at the Institute's doorstep, addressed to Charles Xavier.

******

Later, everyone crowded around a large monitor where Professor X had inserted the tape, which soon began, with none other than Emma Frost, the White Queen appearing on the screen!

"Hello Charles, I'm sure you remember me well, don't you?" Emma said, her voice dripping with ice, "Well your former student has decided that is finally time for a little reunion. Yes, that's right Charles, let's catch up on old times, shall we? In Boston, I will be hosting a little gala. Surely you've heard of the Hellfire club, haven't you? I'm quite in favor with their New York chapter, and so I've been chosen to host their yearly ball, and felt that you and your most experienced students should have the honor of attending."

Emma then smiled, as she took a sip of red wine from a goblet. "Also, I know that you have some of your more...shall we say, "free-spirited" students with you, in fact, they're probably watching this with you right now. I want to let them know that they too are invited to attend. Oh, and remember, this is a formal, so please, do try and look at least halfway presentable."

With that, the tape ended, leaving the group to decide on what to do.

******

"The White Queen's bad news sir. Ah don't know how you came to know her, but Ah don't think we can trust her." Sam said, lending his opinion to the debate.

"Emma was one of my first students," Xavier said, " along with Wolverine, Storm, and for a short time, Beast. However, after a.... falling out, Emma left. I kept an eye on her, however, I never really realized that she was with the Hellfire club. And how might I ask Samuel, do you know her?"

"Well, sir," Roberto said, cutting in. "During our little trip, we had a run-in with her in Boston. Let's just say that she and her little team aren't on the best of terms with us."

"Her team?" Xavier said, "Who may I ask, are they?"

"You saw the news report, right?" Roberto replied, "Those were the guys we were fighting at the Towering Inferno festival. They're called the Hellions, James and Doug were classmates of theirs, though they weren't involved with them."

James nodded his head. "Yeah, Manuel, who's codenamed Empath, can manipulate emotions, Jenny, who's called Roulette has these luck discs that manipulate good and bad luck. There's also this purple haired girl who can morph into a cat and a panther, plus Marie, who's called Tarot because she can bring images from Tarot cards to life, and some kid with flight powers." He said, summarizing what he knew of the team.

"Sam thinks the guy might be some sort of cyborg." Doug added, "Since the guy grew some jet stuff out of his legs, which I think channels and controls the energy he uses to fly."

Sam nodded in confirmation. "I have to wonder if she's got some sort of trap set, sir, Ah just don't have a good feeling about this."

"Be that as it may, I have decided to go to her party. Ororo and Hank will be staying here with the younger team, while Logan, myself, and the rest of you will going to the ball." Xavier said, the look in his face brooking no argument, although the junior team still sighed in disappointment.

Sam shrugged, "Well Ah guess that means we oughta go as well." he said, looking at his teammates, who nodded their heads in support.

******

He still remembered it like it had been yesterday. As the man named Cameron Hodge stood on a makeshift podium, about to address a large group of men, he remembered.

He was a wealthy socialite, heir to a fortune that his family had built in the airplane industry. Their wealth was up there with such well to do families like the Stark's and the Worthington's, and he was always attending social events. That's when he met her. Blonde hair, blue eyes, skin almost as pale as ice, but still alluring. Apparently she had come out of nowhere to become one of richest up and comers in the nation, setting up her own company with little effort and attracting business and funding with little trouble. So he had immediately began a relationship with young Ms. Frost, taking her on trip's to Paris and London, buying her expensive gifts, and lavishing her with attention. And just as quickly as it began, it ended, with almost the entire amount of his family's fortune gone! In her arrogance, she eventually told him what had happened: She took control of his body, made him sign the money over to her, and then mindwiped him of the entire incident. She was a mutant, she had ruined his life, and she had thrown it all in his face, mocking him. He still remembered her cold laughter as she told him that he was powerless to do anything against her. Well, he would prove her wrong tonight.

His hatred for her and mutants grew as time went on, and after the battle in the city of Bayville involving a robot and a large group of mutants, well, it hadn't been too hard to find others like him, who didn't want mutants around, who either wanted them gone for the safety of their families and friends, or those who simply saw them as abominations. So they banded together and formed a group called Humanity's Last Stand, the HSL for short, and tonight they had their first target, the mutie infested Hellfire Club ball, complete with the object of his hatred, Emma Frost!

"Friends! brothers!" Hodge spoke into the podium's microphone, "Tonight, is the night we take our first step into taking back the safety of our lives! Tonight, we strike the muties hard, and we strike them without mercy! No sacrifice is too large for our cause, because against the mutant menace, we truly are humanity's last stand!" to accentuate his point, he thrust his fist into the air, the crowd yelling with raucous cheers and applause in their support of him.

*Tonight, there will be a reckoning.* he thought to himself, as he subconsciously patted his hip holster. Most of the men had standard issue energy rifles, acquired from a rogue SHIELD agent named Bolliver Trask, but he had a special addition, a small pistol, with a single bullet, that he would personally use to finish things once and for all with Emma Frost.

*Tonight, I will have my revenge.*

******

The night of the Hellfire Club ball, Boston Massachusetts.

It hadn't been too difficult for the large group to make their way from the Hotel that they were staying in to the club itself. The boys were all in tuxedos (although it had been with extreme resistance from Wolverine), while the girls were all in dresses, or in the case of Kitty, a proper ballroom gown.

As they made their way inside the grand building, they could here the music of a symphony playing classical music, and were finally greeted by the White Queen herself.

"Why hello there Charles," Emma greeted coolly, "as the White Queen, and in the name of the Lords Cardinal, I bid you and your students welcome to our gala."

She then gave a gracious wave of her hand as she motioned towards the open doors leading into the hall itself. As they walked into the room, Sam motioned for Scott to look up towards a nearby balcony, where a group teens looked down, watching the proceedings.

"Heads up, up there on the balcony are Frost's students, the Hellions." He said a loud, so that the others knew who they were and to keep on their toes.

"Ah, they can't be too tough." Kurt said, "Besides, this is a party, they wouldn't start any trouble, right?" he then gave a carefree shrug. "C'mon, let's have a blast tonight!"

"The fuzzy dork has a got a point, yo." A familiar voice said from behind the group. They all turned around to see the Brotherhood in emerging from the hallway, surprisingly dressed well.

"Hey are those cheesepuffs on that table?" Fred said as he spied the snack table. He was about to go walk over when Lance held him back.

"Later Freddy." he said, "So what are you guys doing here, and I thought those other kids wised up and ditched Xavier?"

"We were invited." Scott said, "How did you guys get in here? and aren't those clothes a little out of your budget?"

In response, Lance just reached into his inner coat pocket and supplied an invitation. "We got invites ourselves Summers, plus some spending money and a limo." He smirked and added, "Whoever this Emma Frost lady is, she sure knows how to treat prospective students."

Bored of all the chatter, Tabitha interjected herself in the conversation, "C'mon boys, chill out, a shindig like this only happens once in a lifetime, let's not blow our chance here!" she then grabbed Wanda and dragged her out on the dance floor, saying that she saw a few cute guys for them.

The mood seemed to lighten a bit after that, and the groups eventually splintered up, going every which way while the party continued on.

******

While many people were enjoying the party, Jean Grey was not. Over the past year, the psychic side of her powers become more and more strong, forcing her to work even harder at controlling her surfacing ability to read minds, especially in extremely large crowds like this, where she had to keep her concentration high.

*I hate this,* she thought to herself, * so many of the thoughts here so... horrible.... and bordering on almost evil. How could anyone stand to be here?*

Her agonizing was interrupted as her boyfriend, Scott Summers, came up to her with a cup of punch.

"You ok Jean?" he asked, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. "You don't look to good."

She shook her head and replied, "No Scott, I'm ok, it's just hard blocking all these thoughts. Especially in a place like this. A lot of these thoughts aren't about tea parties and mansions ...they're ... I can't really describe them."

He gave her a worried look and motioned towards some French doors that led outside. "How about we step out then. There's shouldn't be too many people out there." He said, offering his hand to her.

Jean nodded her head in agreement. "Thank you Scott, that sounds really good right about now." She said, and took his offered hand, and the two made their way to the exit, hand in hand.

Meanwhile, for two other couples, things were much different.

"Kitty, all I asked was if you wanted to have a dance with me." That was said by Lance Alvers, the mutant known as Avalanche. Not too long ago, he was in love with a girl named Kitty Pryde, who loved him back. Despite being on opposite sides in the battle of mutant existence, the two managed to work out a relationship. That all changed when the former leader of the Brotherhood, Mystique, kidnapped and impersonated Professor Xavier and blew up the Xavier Institute Mansion. Now, Lance was desperately trying to win back her love, piece by small piece at a time.

"And why should I Lance?" was the reply from Kitty Pryde, "Someone probably put you up to it anyway."

"What?!" Lance said, shocked, "Why would you say that?"

"Pretty easy, with who you are anf the crowd you hang with." Kitty said, crossing her arms.

Lance was practically beside himself now, his voice tinged with shock, anger, and sadness. "I was trying to be nice Kitty, I love you!"

Venom in her voice, Kitty simply replied, "Well I don't." before turning on her heal and stalking away, shoving a nearby Kurt, who was hogging the snack table, out of her way, while Lance, not giving up despite his outright shock, was hot on her heals, following her.

Meanwhile, for Roberto DaCosta and Amara Aquilla, it was a little different. They were arguing about Roberto checking out several waitresses.

"I can't believe you! I thought you were going to make a serious effort, and here you are, hitting on almost every serving girl here!" Amara said, outrage in her voice.

"Hey, don't you start with me, we haven't even told the others about us yet!" he said, "and who's idea was it about that? Yours!"

"Well, if I had really known how much of a playboy you are, I wouldn't have fallen for you in the first place!" she said, holding back the urge to yell, and slapped him instead, then she dumped her drink on him and walked away, grabbing a random person and taking him out to the dance floor.

Roberto just stood there aghast, until a waitress walked up to him and asked him if he'd like a towel.

******

*Now THAT was fun* thought Manuel De La Rocha, the mutant emotion warper code-named Empath. *For those other brats, DaCosta and Aquilla, I didn't have to do a thing, and it was a simple enough task to connect a link with that brunette and get her to blow up at her former boyfriend, turning her love for him into bitter hate.* he thought smugly as he watched Kitty leaving the main area. He gave a small chuckle, enjoying the mayhem he caused, until he turned around, and was eye to eye with Wanda Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch!

"Care to dance?" she said tonelessly, grabbing his hands and sweeping him out into the dance floor. "You wouldn't have happened to have had a hand in one of those little scenes, did you?" she asked, her eyes cold with silent fury.

"N-no!" Manuel replied, genuine fear in his voice. *MY power.... I can't take control of her mind! ...and she knows it! Her eyes.....like the abyss....* he thought, trying to resist the urge to panic.

"Too bad," she said, before leaning in, her face only inches from his. "Because if you had a hand in either of them I'd have to get angry. You don't want to see me get angry." she said, her eyes still as cold as ice as her crimson shaded lips curled into a wicked smile. "Just give me an excuse, even the smallest one, and I'll give you the experience of your life." She then let go of him and walked off, leaving Empath stunned and scared, fighting the urge to soil himself in absolute terror.

******

*What got into Him?* Rogue thought as she saw Wanda leave Empath. *Poor boy looks as white as corpse*

Rogue was leaning against a wall, ever the wallflower, watching many other couples dance together. She gave a sigh, loneliness creeping into her as she thought of Scott, now happy with Jean, as well as that mysterious card throwing crony of Magneto's, who was creeping into her thoughts more and more recently. Whatever musings she was about to get into however, was interrupted, as someone walked up to her.

"You look rather lonely madam," said the boy, he had dark skin, and looked to be of Arabian descent. "and as a gentleman, I can't allow that."

"Look buddy, just leave me alone, ok? Ah'm happy where Ah am." she said, trying to give him the brush off.

"I do not know what they teach you at Xavier's school, but I can certainly see when someone is unhappy." the boy said, crossing his arms and shooting her an unbelieving look.

"Wait, now Ah recognize ya, you're one of those Hellions." Rogue said, moving her body into a defensive stance.

"At ease, I am not you opponent tonight. My name is Haroun, and yours?" He asked courteously.

"Ah'm...Ah'm Rogue." She said, "Ah'd shake you're hand, but even the smallest bit of skin to skin touch would drain you of all you're energy, memory, and powers."

Haroun only raised an eyebrow at her name, but nodded when she mentioned her powers. "I understand then. But I suppose you're powers are why you are not out in the party? I don't really see the reason why."

Rogue sighed, "Probably because Ah'm afraid of getting someone hurt, mah powers can do a lot of damage." She said, starting to feel more at ease with the boy.

"Mine do as well. They burned my body badly you know," He said, "My legs are entirely cybernetic now."

"Wow, must be tough." Rogue replied, sizing the boy up. *He's pretty tough, to keep going after what happened to him.* She thought to herself.

"Yes, and I must be extra careful when I dance, the metal could hurt my partners feet you know." He joked. "But sometimes, as I have heard from you Americans, when life give you trouble, you have to grit your teeth and bare it, and just keep going."

The two continued their talking, after that, getting to know one another as friends.

******

Doug Ramsey was out near the dance floor, looking around for Rahne Sinclair. In the short time they had known each, the young man had grown close to her, and was now starting to love her. Now at least, he just wanted to dance with her. However before he could find her, he was approached by a former classmate.

"Bonjour m'sieu Ramsey, surely you remember me?" the girl said, "I am Marie- Ange Colbert."

"Yeah, I remember you Tarot." He said, "Why'd you come seek me out?"

"The hired Orchestra is playing a Waltz now, and it has been so long since I have danced, perhaps, forgive me for being so forward, you would like to dance?" she asked, hope in her emerald eyes.

*The White Queen could be putting her up to this.* Doug thought, but he chased those thoughts away. *No, she seems too sincere for that.* After some deliberation, he nodded his head. "Sure, I'll share this dance with you."

"Oh, thank you, Douglas." She said, and took his hand, leading him out to the dance floor.

Because of that, he never saw Rahne Sinclair approach him, he never saw the hurt in her eyes as he agreed to the dance, and he never saw her leave, fighting to keep the tears from falling.

Rahne soon found a nice secluded spot, away from any intrusion, where she could cry quietly *I dinnae like this place, the others are all involved, and now Doug...Ach, I just want to leave. Maybe no one will notice if I slip awa-*"Yaaah!" her thoughts her interrupted when a pair of hands covered her eyes in darkness. She quickly spun around, and saw Catseye, grinning like a Cheshire Cat.

"Surprise!" the purple haired girl said, "Say hello funny way, big-laugh, yes?" she asked, innocence in her voice as she impulsively grabbed Rahne into a hug. "Catseye feel heart good to see redfur girl, been forever since last romp!"

Surprised, Rahne took it in stride. "Uh, Aye, 'tis nice to see ye again Catseye." she said, wondering if this wasn't some sort of elaborate trick.

"Smoothskins borings, go play by ourselves, yes?" Catseye asked, her grin returning. "No get in trouble if no get caught."

Rahne shook her head, "Ach, I shouldn't." She replied, uneasiness in her voice.

"Be brave, be daring, like Catseye, yes?" was Catseye's response as she morphed into her small, purple feline form, her dress falling down around her.

"Oh...why not." Rahne said, *it will take my mind off of things.* he thought as she changed into her Wolf form, her clothes also falling around her.

The two then hid there clothes and ran off to make mischief.

******

Sam and Dani had been dancing together, when Dani suddenly stiffened up.

"Something wrong Dani?" Sam asked, concerned, "Ah'm not that bad of a dancer, am I?"

Dani shook her head, "No, it's not that." She said, "Rahne and I have been working on connecting to each other while she's in Wolf Form, and I just got a large amount of feedback from her..."

The two walked out of the dance floor and continued talking.

"You think she's in trouble?" Sam asked, "Ah can mobilize the others in a hurry if Ah need to."

"No, I don't think she's in trouble, even if she is with that purple haired girl. They seem to be up to pranks more than anything else." Dani said, taking Sam's hand. "Come on, I'm certain we can find them, especially since Rahne is still in her Wolf form."

The two walked off in a hurry, past Illyana, who was talking with the two new Brotherhood members, Rusty Collins and Sally Blevins, as well as a girl with fiery red hair, who claimed to be a new Hellion, and into a hallway.

******

Elsewhere, James Proudstar was having his own conversation with Jenny Stavros outside a meeting room that had been converted into a makeshift casino.

"Nice dress Jenny." James said as they stood outside looking in, " So these are your kind of people huh?"

"Thanks big guy, and yeah, my kind of place filled with my kind of people," she replied, throwing him look, "What about you?"

James gave another look inside and shook his head. "Them? No, those aren't my kind of people." He said, then a loud noise, like the roar of a crowd filled the air from a nearby room. "Now that sounds like my kind of people."

Jenny gave him a curious look, but followed him as walked to the room where the noise originated. Inside, was large gathering of people, and in the center was table, where Freddy Dukes, the Blob sat. Beside him was a very substantial pile of cash, and nearby, Todd Tolensky and Tabitha Smith were inciting the crowd like ring announcers.

"Come on yo, test you're strength against the mighty Dukes!" Todd yelled out, "If you win, you get the whole pile of cash!"

Tabitha further incited the crowd, "All you have to do is arm wrestle his hand to the ground, simple as that guys, after plunkering down the small entry fee of twenty dollars of course."

After the talk was over, James turned to Jenny and said, "You want to cover me? I'll make it worth your while."

Jenny looked skeptical, but offered up the money. "All right, but if you lose, you owe me twenty big ones." She said.

James sat down opposite Freddy, as Todd hollered out, "All right! New contestant! Lock hands, and on my mark, don't hold back!"

Both teens nodded and locked hands, determination of their faces.

"Alright ... one ... two ... go!" Todd yelled out, and the contest was on! At first, it was an even match, but as time went on, James slowly but surely gained the advantage until, with one hard thrust, he slammed Freddy's hand down onto the table.

Tabitha and Todd were speechless, while Freddy nursed his hand. Jenny smiled, and said, "Well that's karma for you, never prey on the weak, it could cost you a fortune." Before reaching in and attempting to take the pile of money, but she was stopped by James, who smiled and said, "How about best two out of three?"

Freddy looked up, his mouth slowly turning into a smile. "You're on!"

******

"Quite a party, isn't it Charles?" Emma Frost said, as she walked up to her former teacher, Logan, sometimes known as Wolverine, was with him. "I do hope you've been entertained."

The three of them were up on a loft, which was connected by several flights of stairs, that overlooked the entire ballroom, giving them a perfect vantage point.

"It has been an...interesting evening, I will admit Emma, but I would like you to answer at least one question of mine." Xavier said, "Why did you invite the Brotherhood?"

Logan crossed his arms, and said, "Been wondering that myself, Ice Queen. They don't exactly fit you're style, if you get what I'm saying."

"Oh, the answer is simple enough, I want them as hired muscle." Emma said plainly. "Most of them are certainly not the brightest of people, but they do have a nice array of talents, that may come in handy as enforcers."

"So you just plan on using them?" Logan replied, "Like canon fodder or something?"

"Why of course, dear Logan, you didn't seriously think I'd let them into my little inner circle, did you?" Emma said with a tone as cool as ice. "Trash like them only serve one purpose in life, making sure people like me and students stay at the top."

******

Outside, the small contingent of Humanity's Last Stand gathered. Each man wore a suit of battle armor, designed in theory, to protect them from all mutant attacks, and were each armed with energy rifles, and at the front stood Cameron Hodge, a look of pure determination on his face. He smiled as let his hand wander to gun that would finish off Emma Frost for good. He couldn't wait to see her face when he pulled the gun from it's holster and shot her.

He turned around, looking over the men under his command, a sense of pride washing over him. He then raised his hand and yelled, "Move out!" before bringing it down, and with that, they charged, jumping through windows, and rushed through doors, entering the building by any means necessary.

******

They caught everyone by surprise when they attacked. The attack squad of Humanity's Last stand, lacking the proper identification equipment, pretty much shot at either anything that looked out of the ordinary at first, and eventually, against anything that resisted them, and resistance they found.

Boom Boom jumped around from target to target, hooting and hollering as she sent several little timebombs around, detonating them once she was clear, and while they were still stunned, Toad jumped on them with his strong legs, knocking them out cold.

Cannonball and Jetstream were rocketing around the area, swooping down and dive-bombing at their foes, while Roulette tossed bad luck discs around, causing the armored suits to malfunction, leaving their attackers sitting targets for any attacks.

Still, they were outnumbered, and Cannonball landed down next to Magik.

"Magik, Ah got an idea. Remember those little demons you were training?" he said to the Russian girl.

"Yes, I remember. Do you want me to bring them here?" she asked.

"Yup, that should even the odds for us." Cannonball replied before blasting off again.

Magik then concentrated, and activated a stepping disc, which melted her into the ground, sending her into the realm called Limbo.

"Hey, where's she going, yo?" Toad said as he jumped on another target, using him as a vantage point to spit some slime at several HLS members.

Before he could do anything else however, Magik reappeared, and soon after, many more stepping discs became active, and small little demons came through, many of them varieties of dragon.

Upon seeing this, Toad let out one of his trademark screams, and yelled at Nightcrawler, "Geez you stupid Fuzzy gecko, you just had to bring those things back with you, didn't ya?"

"This can't be my fault!" Nightcrawler yelled back after a quick teleport, "I don't even use that machine anymore!"

They're arguing was halted however, by Mirage, who had sent several soldiers fleeing in terror with one of her psychic assaults, before telling them both that the dragons and demons were on their side this time, having heard the original story from Sam.

******

Elsewhere, Cameron Hodge thought he saw his chance to finally have his revenge, as Emma Frost seemed to be busy with the other soldiers while arguing with an old man in a wheelchair. He gave a loud yell as he ran up the steps, reaching for his gun. "Emma Frost! Prepare to die!" He screamed out as he reached the top of the stairs, however, before he could do anything else, The White Queen turned around, surprised.

"Cameron? Cameron Hodge? Is that you?" She said, dryly. "I was wondering what had ever happened to you."

Hodge looked livid, "You ruined my life, and you barely remember who I am?!" He screamed out, his voice cracking. "Well, I'll make sure you remember me now!"

He was interrupted however, by a loud "Snikt!", causing him to turn around, seeing a very angry looking Wolverine, his right hand outstretched, and adamantium claws bared. "She may have some trouble coming to her bub," He drawled menacingly, "but it ain't going to be done by you and you're sorry bunch of yahoos."

At this, Hodge, forgetting where he was, leapt back in terror, yelping. Unfortunately, he was too close to the edge, and he lost his balance against the railing and flew over, landing onto a table down below.

Looking down, Wolverine sheathed his claws and gave a shrug, before going back to check on Xavier.

******

Now, the tide was beginning to turn, the members of the Humanity's Last Stand that weren't outright defeated, were now beginning to retreat.

"We've got them on the run!" Avalanche yelled out, spying some escaping soldiers. He sent them stomped his foot to the ground, sending a tremoring shockwave out to knock them off their feet, but this action distracted him, and he didn't see a soldier sneak up on him, ready to fire, until it was too late. He cringed for the blast that never came, as when he opened his eyes, he was standing there dumbstruck, and next to a phased Shadowcat, the soldier unconscious, and with a melted energy rifle in his hand. He caught the Scarlet Witch in the corner of his eye, and immediately concluded that she had caused that, but he was surprised to see Shadowcat.

"Kitty...why'd you...I mean, earlier..." he stuttered out, confused.

"I don't really know what came over me earlier Lance, but...I still owed you one for when you saved me from that flaming mascot awhile back." She said, her eyes full of tenderness.

Avalanche smiled at that, and said, "That's good enough for me."

Meanwhile, Wolfsbane and Catseye, who had been found by Cannonball and Mirage before they had caused too much trouble, were now pouncing onto various opponents, tearing into their armor with their claws, or in Wolfsbane's case, since she was in her transitional form, throwing their guns away. She was so busy however, she didn't notice what was going on behind her....

******

Out of the rubble of what was once a dining table, emerged Cameron Hodge. He was half concussed, his glasses were broken, causing his vision to be even more blurred, and he barely had the strength to stand. The only thing on his mind now was finishing off Emma Frost, he wanted vengeance! He stumbled out of the rubble, pulling out his gun with the single bullet, and attempted to look around, trying to spot his target. Unfortunately, everything was almost one giant blur. Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he spotted a feminine shape.

"Now... I .... got you...you witch..." He slurred out as he readied his gun, madness in his eyes. "Now ... let's see how.... smug you are..."

He held up the pistol and took aim.....

******

Doug Ramsey, the mutant codenamed Cypher, was a smart boy. Once the fighting had started, he knew that he wouldn't be of much use to his teammates, if any, due to the non physical nature of mutant powers, the ability to read, speak and translate any and all languages. So he did what he thought was the most reasonable thing he could think of at the time. He hid behind an overturned table, and carefully watched the battle as it was fought. He saw the Hellion Tarot summon up a demon from her tarot deck to defeat her enemies, and her teammate Empath manipulate the emotions of those who tried to attack him, and he saw a girl whom he had overheard was named Skids, seemingly push her opponents away with some sort of force field. Now though, he saw some man stumble out of the shattered remains of table that he had fallen into and pull out a gun. Not like the energy rifles that he had seen the soldiers use, this he could tell, was an actual gun, and it was aimed at Rahne Sinclair, a girl he cared deeply for.

"Oh no, he's got a gun," he said to himself, realizing the severity of the situation. "Rahne doesn't see him, and she doesn't have enough time to react and get out of the way if I try and warn her...."

He knew what he had to do. He quickly bolted from his hiding space, running as fast as he could towards Wolfsbane, and once he was close enough, he jumped, with all the strength he could possibly muster, to knock her out of the way.

"Rahne! Watch out!"

Bang.

******

Wolfsbane didn't know what hit her. One minute, she was on top of one of the attacking soldiers, tearing into the armor with her razor sharp claws while attempting to tear his energy rifle away, the next minute, she was on the ground after taking a sudden hit from behind. It didn't take long for her to recover however, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw her teammate Cypher, apparently kneeling on the ground, and quickly dismissed it as she leapt back towards her fallen opponent.

"Doug! Get back! I can handle him alone! He's still armed and dangerous and ye have no fighting powers!" she chastised him, not looking at him as she was busy with her opponent, " I know ye meant well, but whatever did ye think yuir we doing?!"

In her anger and being caught up in the fight though, she didn't notice that Cypher was only barely kneeling, she didn't see him start to slump down onto the floor, and she didn't hear his whispered words.

"Don't ...be mad... Rahne... I ... I'll never...do it....again......"

******

Elsewhere, The White Queen slowly walked up to the barely conscious Cameron Hodge. She hadn't witnessed his latest act, but that didn't matter. She was angry.

"My, my, Cameron dear, you have made quite the mess of my party, haven't you?" she said icily.

Hodge, thinking that he had already killed her, turned around and panicked. "No! I...I shot you! You're dead!" He screeched out.

Emma just rolled her eyes. "Of course, Cameron dear," she said dryly, " but now I'm going to have to make sure you never mess with me again." She then frowned, her eyes aglow, as she used her mutant telepathy skills to reach into his mind, and one by one, shut his psyche down, slowly reducing him to a babbling vegetable. He slumped down to the floor immediately, crawling himself up into a ball. Emma gave him a slight kick with the heel of one her boots. "Never be a rude guest again, Cameron. And next time, be a dear, call ahead and RSVP."

******

It didn't take long for combined team of the X-Men, the New Mutants, the Brotherhood, and the Hellions, plus Magik's Limbo demons to defeat the attacking forces, and soon what was left of the attack force was finished, with only a few of them having had the chance to escape.

Now finished, Rahne shifted back into her human form, not having to worry about nudity, since she had worn her uniform under her dress as a safety precaution, the only team member to do so. She looked around for her teammate Doug Ramsey, wanting to apologize for yelling at him earlier.

The Brotherhood member Sally Blevins found him first. "Oh my God!" she screamed out, causing fellow member Rusty Collins to rush to her side with worry.

Curious, Rahne jogged over, and saw Doug lying on the floor.

"Doug?" she asked.

No response.

"Doug,....stop it! Come on, get up, stop teasing us..." She said, worry starting to creep into her voice.

Then she saw the blood.

"Nooooo!"

End of chapter eleven.

Author's Notes: Well, quite the cliffhanger, huh? I didn't actually intend for Doug's sacrifice to coincide so closely with anniversary of the tragic events of 9/11, but it did, thanks to delays of school and writer's block. This is pretty much a penultimate chapter, the longest I've written, and the most dramatic, with it's ending. Ironically enough, I've always disliked the basic story of how Doug died in the regular comics universe, but I decided to put him in the same situation here, sacrificing himself for the love of his life, Rahne Sinclair.

Will his fate be the same here as well? In all honesty, all though I know what I am going to do now, at first I wasn't sure. Briefly, I considered a reader poll, but now I know what I am going to do. You'll have to wait until the next chapter though, because there is where Doug's final fate will be revealed.

Also, because I wanted this to be a large, special chapter, I included the X-Men, and the ever popular Brotherhood as guest stars to make this a real special chapter. Will we being seeing either team again (along with Brotherhood's two new members)? Time will tell, although the next three chapters are already planned out, and I'll share some previews for those at the end of the next chapter. Also, for the curious, Kitty's line abut Lance saving her from a mascot is a reference to a cut scene from the episode "Growing Pains", and that, oddly enough, was shown everywhere but in America. As for the Hellions, they are reslly, the recurring villian team of the story, so of course we'll see them again, complete with a new member, Firestar (she was the girl talking with Magik, the codename-less Rusty, and Skids earlier in the story), so keep an eye out for them!

Major inspiration for this chapter is New Mutants # 53, for most of the ballroom scenes, and New Mutants # 60, for the ending with Doug and Rahne. You can find both issues at comic shops, and # 60 can be found as part of the X-Men: The Fall of the Mutants tradepaperback, again, easily found in most comic book shops or book stores.

Remember, C&C (comments and criticisms) are always appreciated! Take care!

Next chapter: As Doug Ramsey clings to life, each member of the New Mutants thinks about what it takes to truly be a "Hero". Will the team suffer their first casualty? Or will Cypher pull through and recover? Find out next time, in "Paint it Black!"